National Office Update: Dec. 30 - Feb. 3

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vector (heading) in excess of the 45-degree restriction to complying with the crossing
course angle approved under ALR. The wording will be changed to clarify.
The Jan. 21 meeting was specifically to address a myriad of questions brought forth by
industry stakeholders, including ALPA and AOPA, who had representatives in
attendance. Many of the questions pertained to NOTAM language and when ATC
services will be suspended/resumed at airports within a THA. Several policy questions
came to light and the group agreed to meet again on Feb. 18 to finish this discussion.
Another ALR item is the applicability of ALR to both winged and capsule reentries. A
series of meetings were held in November 2019, of which NATCA was only invited to
one, to develop a briefing for Agency executives on the feasibility of applying ALR to
reentries. The main issue here is that reentry THAs to inland landing sites can be
hundreds of miles long and could potentially overlie many medium-sized controlled
airports and several large/major airports. Since ALR rules state that airports within a
THA cannot provide ATC services, this would create a major impact on NAS operations.
This briefing to Agency executives was completed on Jan. 15 and it was decided that
the FAA's position is to not apply ALR to reentries. Mr. Behan was awaiting receipt of
the official memo/policy statement and then planned to raise the issue at the next ALR
meeting, which occurred on Feb. 4.
Joint Space Operations Group (JSpOG) - The Joint Space Operations Group meets
every two weeks at the ARTSCC in Warrenton, Va. The Jan. 8 meeting covered the
following items:
• Boeing's Starliner capsule launch attempt is schedule for no earlier than March
31, the mission may last up to six months.
• DARPA launch challenge: Astra Space is the only remaining competitor and will
conduct the qualifying launches from Kodiak, Alaska, and Wallops Island, Va., in
mid-February. These will be commercially licensed launches and ALR will be
applicable.
• Several upcoming LOA kickoff meetings are being scheduled including Blue
Origin (Cape Canaveral, Fla.), Sierra Nevada Corporation (Huntsville, Ala.), and
Generation Orbit (Cecil Spaceport, Jacksonville, Fla.).
• SpaceX polar launches (Cape Canaveral, Fla.) are tentatively scheduled for
March 2020. This launch will be unique in that it will have a southernly trajectory
over South Florida and could potentially have a major impact on the NAS.
The Jan. 22 meeting covered the following:
• DLRW/TBLP outreach with industry is ongoing with details below.
• An update on the ERAM "QP Draw" efforts with details below.
• DARPA: Astra Space will conduct the first launch from Kodiak, Alaska on Feb.
21.
• The 50114 ALTRV course operational tryout was scheduled for Jan. 28-30 at the
ATCSCC. More details are below.